Sathya Sai Baba's younger brother, Janaki Ramiah (or Janakiram as he was also known) died in October 2003. Sathya Sai Baba mourned him in public - even tearfully - despite his having imprinted on his followers that tears arenever permissible and are but a sign of weakness!
Janaki Ramiah had been banned by brother Sathya from the Prashanthi Nilayam ashram for years until the murders in Sai Baba's bedroom in June 1993. The reasons for their estrangement are unclear, other than that Janakiram had amassed a massive fortune through property deals in Puttaparthi as it mushroomed from the 1970s onwards and - allegedly - through shady transactions in running a brothel and drinking dens there. One day when I was walking with V.K. Narasimhan, we happened to meet Janaki Ramiah who had entered the ashram gate to get to the post office and send a parcel. He sidled out again shortly afterwards!
Thereafter his status changed entirely in that Sathya Sai Baba made him one of the Board of directors of the super-rich Sathya Sai Central Trust. The background to this is evident... that Janaki Ramiah insisted that the four intruders who were later trapped and shot down by the Putaparthi police had intended to assassinate his famous brother (despite Sathya's public statement denying that this was the case!). This helped create the confusion and uncertainty about the event which was never cleared up officially, due to Sai Baba's political devotees who got the investigation by the CBI quashed (that is, the Indian Prime Minister, the President, the Home Minister and others). (see here)
Janakiramiah was congratulated by the Indian Home Minister, S.B. Chavan, for blackmailing the Puttaparthi police into shooting down the four intruders (who had earlier killed two attendants in a struggle with knives). This he did in the presence of Sai Baba's editor - the once-famous Indian journalist and editor-in-chief, V.K. Narasimhan. Janaki Ramiah responded by saying ‘Dead men tell no tales' and he laughed over this together with the Home Minister! This was told me in the strictest confidence by V.K. Narasimhan when I was troubled about the facts around the murders. Only when VKN died in 2000 was I able to consider making know this fact in public... a heavy burden, but one I felt impelled to do in conscience and as an unavoidable public duty.
Here follows an account of the events around the death of Janaki Ramiah by a deluded devotee.
From: "Luis & Silvia" Subject: FW: swami's brother dies Date: Tue, 21 Oct 2003 08:47:54 +1000 Forwarded by ‘Rita' -----Original Message----- From: Sai Sister in Puttaparthi Subject: Swami's last sibling dies; Swami gives discourse Friday 10 PM
On Thursday, Swami came out as usual in the morning for bhajan. After lunch, He walked all the way up to the edge of the verandah, supported by two assistants, before settling down in the open chair. For some reason, they did not put the footrest on, so His feet were hanging down, inches from the floor!
After bhajan, I was surprised to hear the whole village humming that Swami's brother (who has been in serious condition in the Super Speciality Hospital since his heart operation) had died! I called up a reliable contact, who told me that there was absolutely no confirmation on that rumour. How tragic that rumours send a person to the grave before their time!
Later, Swami went to the hospital. We all heard that his brother, who has been in a comatose or semi-comatose state, awoke; however he wasn't able to speak. Swami poured a few drops of water into his mouth. After that, "he was all right," the rumour spread. But actually, we had no definite reports, only that he is "still alive."
(This made me remember the last hours of Swami's two elder sister: both were, at different times, in serious condition and comatose. Only when Swami came to the hospital, they suddenly became awake and aware. They even held Swami's hand. He gave vibhuti to them and left; after a few hours, they left their bodies peacefully. And of course, the Indian practise is to give a few sips of water, preferably with a tulasi leaf, in their last moments.)
It is an extraordinary thing that droves of people, hundreds and hundreds, (thinking that Janakiram was dead or in the last stages), descended on the Super Speciality hospital to see him, and they were actually let in to look at Swami's brother through the glass doors of the ICU unit!
Evening was a program of different small school children chanting the Vedas, speaking and singing songs. Swami stood up for a minute or two, at the end of the program.
Friday morning, Swami came early, about 7 AM. The same lady who stood up the other day, was in first line. She again stood and lunged towards Swami, to touch Him! She even managed to touch His arm. Swami looked utterly shocked at this event, then suddenly put on a very harsh look and said, "NO! GO AWAY!" By then, the Seva Dals were dragging her away. Swami, also by then, was smiling and giving a look full of love to her!
It seems that someone from Singapore has donated a large amount, which will be used to build and start a nursing college here. There was some small puja related to that, after which (8 AM), arathi bells were rung.
Later, there was bhajan as usual. Swami came in the open chair as usual. Bhajan ended at 9:20 AM, and Swami came out from lunch and was back at the Poornachandra by 9:45 AM.
At about 10:30 AM, Swami's brother Janakiram, aged about 73, really did leave his physical coil behind.
Hundreds, even thousands, of people from Puttaparthi and beyond came flocking to the hospital, as word spread. Janakiram leaves behind his wife, two daughters and one son, all comfortably settled in life with children of their own Swami's elder brother (editor's note: Mr. Sesham Raju) died in 1986; His eldest sister in 1993; His second elder sister in 1996; and now His younger brother. The last of Swami's siblings is dead!
The entire town of Puttaparthi 100% closed their shops and went like iron fillings to the magnet of Swami's brother. The place was like a ghost town! He had helped numerous people and was the protector of all the villagers and others in these areas. He was active in politics and also a member of the Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust.
The body was soon brought to their village house (a few houses before the birthplace of Swami, the Siva temple) where pandemonium reigned. I didn't go there, but I saw the events on the local TV channel: pathetic scenes of his poor wife falling on the body and crying, and of his son sobbing uncontrollably. The body was already alarmingly swollen and bloated.
Hundreds of people then filed past the body. The only movement in Puttaparthi all morning and afternoon, was of people going and coming back from seeing the body. Hundreds of people, from the flower girls and sweepers to the big contactors, were feeling like orphans abandoned. After all, it is not so easy to have close contact with Swami, but Janakiram was always there to help them with their problems and do practical things to tide over various tragedies. Many people depended on him.
Swami had cleverly organised a function to hold people's attention! Swami came about 3:30 PM to the Darshan hall. First, there were speakers talking about the nursing college. Even the kind donor talked about how Swami has been protecting his family.
Then, the talks on Janakiram began. Several people talked on his good nature, his equal love for all and what a major figure he was in Puttaparthi. Last was the flowerly-speached Anil Kumar, who spoke eloquently in Telugu. He talked on how he first was introduced to Janakiram in the 1980's, when he shared a room with him in Kodai Kanal for 40 days. He talked of how he had equal love for all, was always ready to help and be kind, and though he sometimes seemed angry, he would immediately turn sweet and soft again, and forget completely about the harshness.
(Meanwhile, the body of Janakiram was taking in procession at about 4:30 PM and buried as is, as per family custom, on a plot of land near the bypass road, in Enumulapalli.)
After that speech, Swami indicated that He, too, wanted to speak! Anil Kumar couldn't resist then coming to the mike and formerly inviting Swami to say a few words "to lift our heavy hearts." The table waS brought and with the help of only one boy, He stood up, at about 5:10 PM, and started to talk.
First Swami sang the poem about the greatness of Indian women, ironically starting with the line about how Savitri brought her dead husband back to life! His voice faltered with emotion several times. Swami then began talking about the power of God that is in man, and how one such great Shakti was Janakiram! He said that although Janakiram may have had harsh speech, inside his heart was soft and calm. He repeated this several times.
Then He immediately started talking about how Rama felt when his beloved brother Lakshmana fainted on the battlefield. Rama said, "How can I ever find a brother like you? It is not possible!" Swami went on; several times His voice cracked and fathered, and two or three times He had to stop mid-sentence because He actually started to sob! It was a heart-rending moment, the closest Swami has ever come to outright, real crying.
To me, this was a message for all of us: perhaps He was showing, by His own show of emotion, that sometimes we may have tragedy occur, but we should overcome it by concentrating on spirituality, filling our hearts with love and sharing that with all. Suddenly, about 5:50 PM, Swami's right side seemed to buckle and he faltered, starting to fall to one side.
His assistant helped him to regain balance. Swami then said, "Don't feel bad that I am put to suffering. I have no inconvenience. In fact, thorough my actions I am an actual example of pure love." Amidst the applause, He slowly slid down in the open chair and He motioned for bhajans to begin.
After the Ganesh bhajan, and one other bhajan maybe... Swami wiped his eye and called for arathi! So, the bhajan was ended right there in the middle and Swami went out in the open chair.
Whew! What a day!
From the above one can appreciate how thoroughly extended and twisted people's rationalizations become when on still cannot face the facts or make any kind of break with the idea that Sathya Sai Baba is perfect, omniscient, all-powerful, omnipresent, God Almighty the Creator and so on ad. inf. The uncertainty and reliance on rumours illustrated so well by the above account is endemic at Sai Baba ashrams, where information is carefully hoarded, facts covered-up and disinformation carefully crafted for public consumption - and effectively spread through the entire network of blindly-believing officials in his institutions and the Sathya Sai Organization.See also about Janakiramiah's involvement here: http://robertpriddy.wordpress.com/2007/07/31/murders-2/
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